Cycling: the start of the Tour de France marked by the fervor of the Danish public

Axel May, edited by Romain Rouillard 2:41 p.m., July 04, 2022

Short break on the Grande-Boucle.

After the first three stages in Denmark, the Tour de France is taking a break on Monday in order to repatriate the entire field to France for the fourth stage which will take place on Tuesday.

And if the French roads remain the most emblematic of this legendary race, the cyclists involved were pleasantly surprised by the fervor of the Danes. 

The oldest in the peloton remembered the big start from Yorkshire where millions of supporters had gathered on every kilometer of the course.

Eight years later, the Danes gave the Tour a welcome reminiscent of this great English departure.

And what's more, the stages were less stressful than expected for the riders who feared a strong wind which was finally replaced by a clear and massive sun.

“People are super respectful” 

The crossing of the Scandinavian country was all the same nervously trying, as explained by the runner Aurélien Paret-Peintre at the microphone of Europe 1. "The stages are not very hard physically, but mentally it is very difficult. There is so many people, concentration and stress level and it's really very high". 

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So much so that the runners sometimes had some difficulty hearing the instructions of their sports directors in the headsets.

Gilles Maignan, the driver of the red car, the one driving the event director, Christian Prudhomme, gives his feelings: "The thing I remember is that beyond the fact that I have a lot of people , it's that people are super respectful. They're not on the road, stay to the side, they applaud. As we can see in some areas, some spectators are a little drunk sometimes and go a bit beyond the limits , there, frankly, they are happy to have the Tour de France. What I found quite exceptional was that there were large Danish flags everywhere. I don't know how many large cranes I

saw with huge flags in the air like that, you can't miss them.

I still saw some Breton flags.

The Bretons are everywhere," he jokes. 

No Brittany on the program, however, for the Tour de France 2022. The peloton returns to France via the North where the riders are resting this Monday before the first stage, Tuesday, in French territory, between Dunkirk and Calais.